type of word puzzle based on synonyms, etc., and often in the form of a verse, 1590s, from French logogriphe, from Greek logos "word" (see logos) + gripos/griphos "riddle," a figurative use, literally "fishing basket, creel," probably from a pre-Greek word in a lost Mediterranean language. "The variation [p/ph] is typical for Pre-Greek words; such an origin for a fisherman's word is quite understandable" [Beekes].